Queer people don’t usually get to see themselves live happily ever after in most media. We get the love stories that end in tragedy. This is largely because non-queer people are making most of the media that represents us–which means we’re not really represented in it at all. So it’s refreshing to see a book […]
About Elizabeth Brei
Anarchist Cody Wilson Takes on the Government in The New Radical
It’s difficult to watch a documentary like The New Radical without bringing in your own biases. That’s likely the point, considering the title and the subject matter. It’s supposed to feel alienating and disarming, to make you consider viewpoints that aren’t your own, and certainly to make you a little bit angry and defensive. And […]
Unsung Genius is on Display in Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
In 2017, it’s not unusual to learn about women who have made major advances in science, technology, literature but have never been given the real credit they deserve for it. Rosalind Franklin was almost certainly the person who made the actual discovery of the double helix. Alice Guy’s husband took credit for the movies she […]
“Long Lost” #1 has the Creeping, Eerie Pace Every Horror Comic Needs
Long Lost #1 refuses to answer questions. Written by Matthew Erman with art by Lisa Sterle, the book sweeps through plot points without pause, giving new information on almost every page, with an art style that varies in tone sometimes panel to panel. The book reads like a horror film, giving us enough character details […]
Hazel Newlevant’s Sugar Town is as Sweet and Pleasant as Its Name
Stories about queer people can sometimes feel incomplete, even shallow. Even in 2017, it seems like a lot of stories focus on the sex, probably because that’s what straight people are likely to get hung up on when it comes to queer relationships. It’s foreign and novel, and just a bit naughty. But because of […]
Low-Budget Disaster Drama Meets High School Comedy in Dash Shaw’s My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea
My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea begins as any number of high school films and TV shows does: with two weirdos on a school bus, on their way to the first day of a new school year, talking about how things are going to be different. This year, people will like Dash because […]
The Brand New Testament Is A Surreal, Inventive Take On Mortality And God
The Brand New Testament, as its premise, poses a question everyone has pondered: What would you do with the rest of your life, if you knew exactly when it was going to end? Would you continue as normal or drop everything to live exactly as you’ve always wanted? The film considers this question in the […]
My Life as a Zucchini is an Uncynical Take on the Orphanage Story
My Life as a Zucchini looks like a children’s movie. The stop-motion film features characters, mostly children, with big heads and long limbs, round eyes and mouths, and oddly-colored hair. The title character looks vaguely like he came out of one of Tim Burton’s later attempts at an animated film, with blue hair and odd, […]
Invoking the Supernatural, Miss Hokusai Considers the Concept of the Muse
Miss Hokusai is not shy about the mystical. Paintings come alive to tell stories of hell and suffering and drives a woman insane. A geisha’s ghost has to be trapped in a net during the night in order to keep it from flying away. Our protagonist O-Ei paints a dragon, not from her own imagination, […]
Kate Leth, Megan Levens Give Us the Start of a Satisfyingly Fun Romp with Spell on Wheels
Spell on Wheels is like a dream for girls who grew up on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. It works especially well for girls like me who moved on to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Regardless of the difference in tone and intention, both shows feature girls who suddenly find themselves with powers they don’t expect and […]